Last week, the US House of Representatives held debate over a bill that would impose new sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran for its longstanding record of human rights violations and hostage-taking. The bill was introduced by Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and quickly acquired 46 co-sponsors, including both Democrats and Republicans.

Notably, as Iran Human Rights Monitor pointed out on Friday, the addition of an amendment by Ted Poe, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, made Resolution 4744 the first potentially binding congressional resolution to include language referring to the massacre of Iranian political prisoners in 1988.

The future of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is hanging in the balance. Following meetings between United States President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, Iran is feeling the pressure.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also planned a visit to coincide with that of the Europeans. He is apparently attending the United Nations peace conference with other officials from around the world, but it is clear that he is there with regards to the nuclear deal.

On Sunday, the CBS News program Face the Nation aired an interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, leading to widespread reporting upon his comments regarding the 2015 nuclear deal, as it faces a crucial deadline. In January, US President Donald Trump renewed the sanctions waivers put into place by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but announced that he would not do so again unless Congress and the European signatories to the nuclear deal agreed upon a plan for fixing its “terrible flaws.” Progress toward such an agreement has been slow, but the American waivers must be renewed by May 12.

Delphine O, MP from Paris, chairs the France-Iran friendship group in the National Assembly (the French parliament). Her activities are divided into three areas: "supporting Franco-Iranian political relations; strengthening academic and scientific exchanges between France and Iran; and promoting Iran in France. As it is difficult to show sympathy for a regime, as problematic as that of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Delphine O spares no effort to "whitewash" its detestable image due to its Islamist theocratic nature and its serious violations of human rights, as very often pointed out by the UN and important international NGOs.